Do You Know Books in Canada?

Robertson Davies or Margaret Atwood? Wayne Gretzky or Wendel Clarke? Who sold more? Who sold first? Put your knowledge of the Canada’s book marketplace to the test with this Canada 150 quiz by BookNet Canada! These 21 uniquely Canadian questions will push your book skills to the edge, as BookNet Canada keeps Canada 150 rolling. 

Munsch on the stage!

Robert Munsch has illuminated the imaginations of Canadian children for years, and now he's alive not only on the page, but also on the stage! Munschtime, playing at the Toronto Young People's Theatre until May 14th, brings to life many of Munsch's classic titles in an exciting new format. Castmembers spoke to Tom Power on Q about the charm of Munsch's stories and the fun of the new production. This is a wonderful new way for kids and adults alike to revel in the magic of Munsch!

Olympic Fever!

I spent an incredible amount of time parked in front of the TV set this weekend watching the start of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. I am generally not a big fan of televised sports but the one event I can't peel myself away from are the Olympics, and so much more so when it is being held on our home turf!

I find the whole event incredibly inspiring, for both the human interest stories (I'm sure I was not alone in shedding a few tears when Alex Bilodeau won Gold in Men's Moguls and rushed over to hug his older brother) and the awe-inspiring athletic displays.

I have actually skied down both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, and it took me all day to get from top to bottom of each mountain. Mind you, coming from the relative flatness of Ontario, my downhill skiing technique involves a lot of (steadying) arm waving, screaming (usually when the skis start to head toward a tree), and falling to slow myself down. It boggles the mind that gold-medal winner Didier Defago from Switzerland completed the downhill course in 1:54:31 for the gold medal!!

Isn't our Women's Hockey Team fantastic? I just caught about fifteen minutes of their game against Switzerland yesterday, but during that time, they scored 3 goals and seemed to be dancing around the other team.

I even forced myself to watch the pairs figure skating, which to me is as nerve-racking as watching a horror movie. I even watch it the same way- through my fingers or with an afghan on my head (so I can see through the holes)- all those dramatic falls and near-misses with flying skates...

This is definitely an event I'll want to remember forever. Fortunately, I have the inside track to a perfect memento of the Games! Key Porter Books will be publishing a commemorative book written by The Canadian Press called Canada's Olympic Diary, which will release immediately following the end of the games. It will follow the Olympics day-by-day, covering all of the events, but focusing in particular on the achievements of our Canadian athletes- exactly what I want to remember!

It will also cover the lead up to the games, the torch relay and be packed with amazing photographs.

Go Team Canada!

And then there's Maude. . .

Coming home on the plane from a week's road trip in Alberta, I was saddened to hear that the amazing Bea Arthur had died. What a great, brassy, outspoken, raunchy, lovable diva she was. I grew up watching Maude and then The Golden Girls, and her cynical comic timing was next to none. Do yourself a favour and get your hands on the CD of Bea Arthur On Broadway: Just Between Friends, a one-woman show she did a few years ago. Oh, it's just marvellous - I've been listening to it repeatedly this afternoon and chuckling away.

Long before her TV fame, she was an enormous success on Broadway, winning a Tony Award for Mame. This live recording is equal parts stand-up comedy and witty cabaret. She tells many jokes and recounts hilarious and touching stories from her life and career, such as working with Angela Lansbury ("mouth like a longshoreman") to getting a coveted part alongside Lotte Lenya in Threepenny Opera. In between the amusing and frank banter, she sings a variety of songs from the very funny "What Can You Get a Nudist For Her Birthday?" or "If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sittin' On It!", to terrific renditions of Kurt Weill's "Pirate Jenny" and Stephen Sondheim's "Some People". And of course she reminisces about some of her favourite moments from her television years.

"For me, TV was so creatively rewarding," she says at one point. "Doing material that was bright and LITERATE (her emphasis) and original and adult and daring!" Those were the days. R.I.P Bea - you were truly a legend.

Bits and bobs and books. . .

It's been a crazy, busy time lately, so here are just some of the book news, links and recommendations that have been rattling around in my brain over the last little while . . .

Evergreen shortlist announced. . .

The nominees for the 2009 Evergreen Award were announced last week at the OLA Superconference. This award is given to a favourite adult book written by a living Canadian author and voted on by Ontario library patrons (how thrilled am I to see Christopher Plummer included!) The winner will be announced at next year's OLA. Congratulations to the 2008 winner, Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes and to this year's shortlist:

Apples to Oysters: a Food Lover’s Tour of Canadian Farms by Margaret Webb
The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
Coventry by Helen Humphreys
Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott
In Spite of Myself: A Memoir by Christopher Plummer
The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper
The Outlander by Gil Adamson
Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth by Margaret Atwood
Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese

And Speaking of Canlit. . .

I came across a great blog called Roughing It in the Books. Kudos to these two readers who are making their way through the entire New Canadian Library collection of Canadian classics and blogging their reviews. So far, they've tackled Frederick Philip Grove's Over Prairie Trails, Morley Callaghan's Such is My Beloved, Stephen Leacock's Literary Lapses, Sinclair Ross's As For Me and My House, and Gabrielle Roy's The Tin Flute. They also post biographical information about the author. Every used bookstore in Canada has several incarnations of NCL's - they've been around for over fifty years. Recently, they've been updated with brand new covers and grown into a larger trade paperback size. You can see an exisiting list at the NCL website located here.

Best Translated Books of 2008 shortlist announced. . .

If your new year's resolution is to read more international fiction, then you could do a lot worse than start with these ten shortlisted books from last year. The blog Three Percent has posted reviews of all 25 longlisted books as well. I've read four of the shortlisted ten - The Post-Office Girl by Stefan Zweig, translated by Joel Rotenberg, and Unforgiving Years by Victor Serge, translated by Richard Greeman were both Dewey picks of mine, so I'm thrilled to see them make the final cut. I also read Roberto Bolano's 2666, translated by Natasha Wimmer over the holidays (really, how can this lose?) and really loved the deliciously exquisite Bonsai by Alejandro Zambra, translated by Carolina De Robertis (part of Melville House's terrific Art of the Contemporary Novella series - more about this soon).

Also check out The Lost in Translation Reading Challenge blog where participants vow to read at least six books in translation during the year and to blog about their experiences. There are some great reading suggestions and reviews on this site.

R.I.P John Updike. . .

There has been lots of media coverage of John Updike's death last week and you can easily find obituaries such as this one from the Guardian online if you want a brief overview of his life. He was a prolific writer and if the tributes have inspired you to dip into some of his work, may I suggest starting with the short stories - a genre that he absolutely excelled in. You can find examples in almost any literary anthology, or pick up his collection The Early Stories. At over 800 pages, this collection will certainly whet your appetite for more of his work. For novels, his Rabbit Angstrom books are the most famous, but give his Henry Bech novels a try - they portray the life of a writer, somewhat similar to Updike's own, over several decades. And if you want a writer's appreciation and a very funny read to boot, do pick up Nicholson Baker's hilarious U and I, a memoir about not quite meeting his literary idol. Recommended reading for Alain de Botton and Geoff Dyer fans and a hoot even if you're not a fan of Updike himself (though I bet Baker will convert you.)